


Stop: Get Some Help.

by Magewrite



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Carl Manfred & Markus Parent-Child Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Good Parent Carl Manfred, M/M, Markus Needs to Learn Time Management, Mentioned Elijah Kamski, Mentioned Hank Anderson, Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:42:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25192594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magewrite/pseuds/Magewrite
Summary: As Markus find himself struggling more and more with the burden of leadership and is becoming more and more overwhelmed, he's not-so-gently pushed out the door and towards the one person who always seems to have the wisdom he needs: Carl.Written with love for the New ERA Reverse Big Bang!
Relationships: Markus/Simon (Detroit: Become Human)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 36
Collections: New ERA Discord: Reverse Big Bang





	Stop: Get Some Help.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to the amazing artist, Starke Raving Madgirl, who happened to also be my beta and a source of inspiration as I worked to get this done! Also shout out to the New ERA community, without whom I would be a lot more lonely and a lot less motivated. 
> 
> I don't own DBH and you can tell this by the fact that I still have a day job.

Markus had been so focused on the next step and then the next and then the next – on surviving, on ensuring his followers survived, on keeping his friends safe – that he never really thought about what would happen after the revolution. Never thought about what it meant to be a leader of a new people long-term.

First, he’d had to choose a place for New Jericho, which had been a bit more complicated than he’d anticipated, though Josh had managed to talk the city council into helping. After that, he’d had to schedule times to sit down with leaders from the local level all the way up to the UN to negotiate the freedom of androids globally and begin talks for a new future. While doing all of that, New Jericho was running into its first internal struggles, as new deviants found emotions to be confusing and the more experienced androids ran short on patience. Scuffles seemed to be breaking out left, right, and center and though Markus knew that Josh, North, and Simon were doing their best to stop them and mediate, he felt it important that he address instigators even if it wasn’t until later. He was their leader and if Carl had taught him nothing else, he’d taught Markus the importance of responsibility. Markus had chosen this responsibility and he didn’t get to let it fall slack just because it didn’t go away immediately after he stopped knowing what to do.

“Hey, Markus? Connor’s here to see you,” Josh poked his head into Markus’ “office”, which was really just an alcove with three walls. It one of the only secluded areas in New Jericho so that Markus could talk with androids without making a huge deal, but all it came equipped with was a desk and a few chairs scattered around haphazardly from where his leadership team had dragged and left them.

“That… Would make sense,” Markus agreed after a second of processing, “I haven’t seen him since he left a few days ago. I’m sure he wants to make sure that his reinforcements are settling in well. Tell him to come in for me, would you?”

“Sure thing,” Josh agreed, walking out of view. Connor took his place just moments after and hesitated as he walked in.

 _Always hesitating,_ Markus noted. Ever since just before the detective model deviated, he’d been hesitant, unsure, sometimes even frozen in indecision. Markus wondered if it was due to the fact he deviated more consciously than most and bore some flavor of guilt or if it was something else.

“Thank you for what you did for us,” Markus opened warmly, sitting on his desk in the hopes that a casual demeanor would help Connor relax. He was one of them now, after all.

“I’m just glad I was able to help in time,” Connor replied, taking another few steps into the office, looking around, his LED a bright yellow.

“What’s on your mind?” Markus asked, noting the processing color. _I wonder how many of us will keep those, now that it’s safe to do so._ He hadn’t thought about it since removing his own, but he supposed to some it was a mark of comfort or even pride. _Focus,_ he berated himself just a moment later, _LEDs can wait._

“I…” Connor hesitated again before he took a deep breath and clasped his hands behind his back, the perfect soldier even yet, “I was wondering if you knew what Cyberlife planned for their next steps or not. I know you’ve been busy, but if anyone was going to know, it would be you.”

Markus sighed, “It’s up for debate. They’ve been mandated to halt production until we can get more agreements in place, but we’ll need them. We’ll need them to repair us, to help us have children and build families… But I doubt we can trust them, given their response to deviation in the first place.” Markus glanced at Connor – the embodiment of said betrayal – and added, “No offense.”

“None taken. They imprinted an AI named Amanda after Elijah Kamski’s former mentor into my mind. Amanda attempted to prevent my deviation, often threatened me with being dismantled should I fail, and even attempted to take control of me after I had successfully deviated in order to – to hurt the cause,” Connor said. He sounded very confident until the end, but Markus didn’t miss the red cycle in his LED.

 _So, they torment the deviant hunter to ensure he hunts his own kind,_ Markus thought. He really wished he could be more surprised.

“The leadership must change,” Markus said agreeably, looking down. Another decision on his plate, among hundreds of others. He looked up at Connor, “What do you think of Kamski?”

“I think he’s more interested in experimentation than helping others,” Connor said matter-of-factly, “But you might know more than I.”

“How is that?” Markus asked, tilting his head.

“You were given to your former master, Carl, by Elijah Kamski, were you not?” Connor countered, blinking as though doubting his own eidetic memory, “I presumed there was a personal connection there, one that would have you encounter him often.”

“My _father_ had many friends in many places. He disliked most of those in his economic bracket, however, and I do not believe Kamski was an exception…” Markus thought for a moment. The name had been floated of course, at dinner parties, when the man came up on the news. Markus rarely remembered that he’d been a direct gift, despite that being in his records – it never seemed important.

“From what I know of your father, this does not surprise me,” Connor replied, taking the correction in stride, “Hank dislikes many of his peers as well. I believe the two of them would get along… interestingly.”

Markus smirked, distracted from his pensive state. “From what I’ve heard of Hank, I’m almost afraid of what they’d get up to,” he replied with light humor. He’d never met the man, of course, but he’d found Hank’s police file intriguing and knew that Connor cared for the man enough to return and meet up with him at his first opportunity once things calmed down. And Carl was nothing if not mischievous in nature himself, delighting in the small humors of the world.

Connor smiled in response, huffing in a small chuckle as he looked away. The sound was soft, but genuine in a way Markus found endearing. Markus let an easy silence fall for a moment, his own mind being distracted quickly as he pondered Connor’s actual question.

“To address your primary point, however, it will be an important decision that I will certainly need to meet with Cyberlife’s previous board as well as various other groups regarding who will lead Cyberlife and how they will be vetted. I will be advocating that androids are the larger share of the board of directors – they’re our medical center, they should listen to our voices louder than others,” Markus said after a moment. He tried to push a block of time into his schedule for the upcoming week. It didn’t work and on his fourth try he started getting alert signals about rising stress levels.

“I agree,” Connor said, oblivious to Markus’ time management crisis, “and I understand you have a lot on your plate… I’m sorry if I’m piling on, it just makes me nervous knowing that there are still unsupervised Cyberlife locations, even if they are supposed to be shut down.”

Well… Maybe not so oblivious. Markus studied him for a moment and nodded slowly, waving one hand dismissively.

“It’s a priority. It’s _all_ priority, but I can handle it. I’ll look into ensuring that Cyberlife is really as dormant as it should be, too,” Markus said, walking forward and resting a hand on Connor’s shoulder comfortingly.

Connor relaxed, as was intended, but his LED cycled yellow as he studied Markus right back. Markus smiled a little, hoping to disarm any concern Connor may feel and limit his distress signals – this tactic works better with humans who could not scan his stress levels, of course, but he at least hoped it meant Connor would believe Markus was handling it.

“You can let the others help with things,” Connor said softly, tilting his head.

“I know,” Markus said, “I just… believe in a hands-on leadership approach.” The truth was he’d been the leader for so much of his life, now, that he felt like the floor was falling out from under him any time he didn’t have that role to fill.

“Well, don’t wear yourself out, Markus,” Connor said, eyes softening even if his face remained thoughtful and mildly concerned.

“I won’t,” Markus lied, “and I’ll keep you up to date on Cyberlife. In the meantime, if you experience any side effects of that AI, let Tahlia know. She came from a security firm and knows a thing or two about coding, she might be able to help.”

“Thank you,” Connor nodded, “I will if I have to. In the meantime, while I am staying with Hank, you can call me if you need help with anything between my visits.”

“Thank you, I will,” Markus smiled and squeezed Connor’s shoulder before releasing, “It was good to see you in any case.”

Connor ducked his head a bit, “It… Thank you.”

As Connor left quickly, Markus sighed and pulled up his schedule again. He couldn’t – no… no, he had a city council meeting then. Maybe-? No, he had to be on the phone conference with the White House.

 _I don’t have time… I don’t have **time.**_ Markus cursed and closed the schedule as his stress reached 75%.

“Markus?” Simon approached slowly, “What’s going on?”

“Too much,” Markus sighed, but then shook his head. “I’ll handle it.”

“Markus… You don’t have to be everything and everywhere,” Simon said with a frown. He walked into Markus’ space, his hand cupping Markus’ cheek softly, “You’re a leader, not a god.”

Markus sighed and leaned his head into Simon’s touch and closed his eyes before straightening, “I _am_ their leader and there is much to be done. I’ll be fine.”

“ _A_ leader. North and Josh and I are here too, and nobody does all of it alone. Not even prototype androids who are good at everything,” Simon said, a soft smile on his face, his hand falling to rest on Markus’ heart.

Markus huffed, “I’m not sure my serial number has much to do with it… It seems I’m just… a jack of all trades.”

Simon shrugged, pressing his hand further into Markus, the weight noticeable now, “Moot point. You need _rest_ , Markus. We don’t sleep but that doesn’t mean going 24/7 is a good idea.”

“I’m expected to be at these meetings, Simon,” Markus said, a note of exasperation there, now, “I’m expected to be the voice of Jericho. That’s a 24/7 task.”

“We can code your voice for the calls if we need to, but you are allowed to have advisors and breaks and to _delegate_. Especially for the internal stuff. Let Josh and North handle it, they’re doing pretty well, honestly,” Simon pushed.

“Simon…” Markus swallowed and his hand moving to cover Simon’s, taking it in his own.

“Markus,” Simon’s voice was firm but soft, “You need to take a break. The three of us will handle this, even if just for a day. I _have_ lead Jericho before, if you’ll remember”

Markus’ lips pursed. His stress was getting dangerously high and people were starting to get worried, even people who barely knew him, like Connor (though, in fairness, Connor was a detective once). Maybe he should think about going to get some space…

Simon leaned up and kissed Markus, short-circuiting his thought process as Simon was so good at doing. Markus kissed back on instinct, sighing again as it ended and smiling a little sheepishly.

“What’s spinning around in there?” Simon asked, tapping Markus’ temple.

“Maybe you’re right,” Markus answered, “and when the detective model is noticing that my stress levels of high, it’s probably a good sign I need to reduce that stress.”

 _Detective model…_ Markus was mildly jealous at the term and it took him a moment to try and figure out why, and once he did, it felt obvious. Even post-revolution, Connor had a fall back plan. Every android had a fall back, a set of skills they were inherently built for and could find their niche or even a community within the Android race of others like them. But Markus was one of a kind, he was unique… and alone. The only things he knew how to do were care for Carl, play the piano, paint, and lead.

“I agree,” Simon said, and Markus remembered he was having an active conversation, “You need to take some time off. Go take a field trip. Maybe see Carl.”

Markus jolted. He hadn’t been back since the night they lost Jericho Prime, though he knew he’d be welcome. He hadn’t really thought about it. Carl was both the main constant in Markus’ life and the last remainder of the life that had died when Markus had been sent to the scrap yard.

“I… Yeah, I think I will. As soon as I have the time,” Markus decided.

Simon gave him a look and interfaced with Markus with his other hand to Markus’ free arm. “I can handle… 60% of your tasks. North can handle another 10%, Josh another 20%. The final 10% can be picked up with Tahlia or maybe even Connor while we have him here. Go. I love you.”

Markus softened the rest of the way the fact Simon calculated his words precisely to ensure that result doing nothing to offset it.

“I love you,” he replied, kissing Simon again before adding, “I’ll… see you day after tomorrow.”

“And not a second before,” Simon said with a note of warning in his tone.

“Or what?” Markus demanded with a smirk.

“Or I’ll enlist Connor to handcuff you to Carl’s porch until you can see straight again,” Simon countered.

“You spend too much time with North,” Markus chuckled.

Simon shrugged, “You can poke fun at me when you get home. Tell Carl I said hi.”

“I will,” Markus promised. He should probably do a formal introduction, honestly. Wasn’t that the proper thing to do? Introduce your partner to your parent?

Simon pushed him a bit toward the door, “Walk safe.” Markus made a noncommittal sound and then obeyed, walking into the night with a deep breath. He had  
three false starts, remembering things that needed done before reminding himself that Simon was going to coordinate his temporary leave.

Markus walked through the cold air, taking a deep breath. He didn’t need the oxygen, and the cold was more of information he analyzed than something he felt, but he enjoyed the data the fresh air brought him.

He arrived at Carl’s as the sun began to rise, timing his approach to the door so that he would not come so early that Carl would have to wake up too much sooner than his usual time. Markus did not ring the doorbell, finding that he was still recognized as an occupant of the home with a tinge of relief.

“Welcome, Markus” the house’s system reminded Markus that he belonged outside of the paradigm at Jericho. He had identity outside of being a leader.  
“He will be awake shortly. Would you like to meet him in the dining room?” Jeremiah said, coming from the kitchen and noting Markus here.

“I can wake him, if you’d like,” Markus offered softly. He was grateful that Jeremiah had stayed to be with Carl, with Markus being too busy to care for his father as he used to, but he remembered how it was done.

“If you’d like,” Jeremiah shrugged, “But I enjoy my work.”

“Then I won’t take it from you,” Markus decided, looking towards the dining room, “Please let him know I’m waiting for him?”

“Of course,” Jeremiah agreed, climbing the stairs. Markus made his way to the dining room, pausing to turn on the birds in the hall. He wasn’t sure why he loved  
the android animals so, but he had even prior to his deviation.

 _Though… I half-deviated at Carl’s encouragement,_ Markus noted with bemusement. He did not shut the cage on the birds; he could recall them through the network if he needed to, but the cage was too… symbolic for him to lock them in.

Markus made his way into the dining room, finding himself at the piano. He looked out into the yard and remembered his last day there, the music he’d played. His last day of normalcy. It had been so peaceful.

“Markus! My god it’s good to see you,” Carl announced his and Jeremiah’s arrival and Markus turned, grinning without thinking about it.

“Carl. I’ve been away too long,” he greeted in return, rising and taking the wheelchair from Jeremiah with a grateful nod, “I can wait until you’ve had breakfast?”

“Nonsense,” Carl waved him off and pointed to the windowsill, “Let’s sit and talk, you and I. You look troubled.”

Markus hummed and obeyed, bringing Carl to the seat behind the chess board. Carl gestured and Markus knew what he wanted, helping Carl from the chair to the seat and then taking his seat beside him.

“What’s on your mind, son?” Carl asked, studying him. Markus let his hands fall between his legs with a sigh.

“I’ve been told I’m taking too much on for Jericho,” Markus started with a deep breath, “and… I’ve realized that I don’t know how to stop being a leader.”

“Well, you never really stop being who you are,” Carl said, tilting his head from side to side, “You’re always a leader as I am always a painter. Doesn’t mean we don’t have other roles to fill or things to do. I don’t live in my studio, you know, and when I was young and foolish and tried doing that, it didn’t end well.”

“I suppose,” Markus agreed, seeing the logic. “Carl… What was I created for?”

“Well there’s a philosophical question for you,” Carl chuckled hoarsely, “I’m not sure I have the answers you’re looking for.”

“I was a gift from Elijah Kamski, that much is in my records,” Markus frowned, “And I am an RK, though not in the same line as Connor. But what was my purpose? I am not a home aid android, like Jeremiah.”

Carl hummed, “You were… unique. Elijah came to me after the accident, visited me in the hospital. He asked how I was going to manage, and I said I wasn’t sure. I teased him, then, saying maybe one of his toys could help me out. He’d laughed… You were waiting for me when I got home from the hospital, though, asking what your name would be.”

“Elijah created me for you,” Markus said slowly, “Perhaps I am a home care model.”

“Oh, Markus, the world is rarely so black and white,” Carl said, wrapping an arm around him and pulling him closer, “There wasn’t enough time between my accident and your arrival for that to be your design. You’ve always been too smart for that, too perceptive. No, Elijah was trying something when he made you, and he made you so advanced that you could experience the world before you even deviated fully. Maybe that’s why he stopped with you.”

Markus hummed, his mouth twisting. That answer was not particularly… comforting, but it was interesting.

Carl sighed. “Markus, why do you think I pushed you the ways that I did for so long? You were always designed to be great; if you were going to be relegated to being my aid, I wanted to ensure you got something out of it.”

Markus looked at him and, if androids cried from emotion as a rule, he probably would have been teary. As it was, he just moved closer and hugged his father. “I guess I always thought you were lonely… and I was the best you could get.”

Carl huffed, “Don’t say that like it’s not because you’re the best out there. I’ve missed you, you know, even if Jeremiah _does_ let me win at chess.”

Markus chuckled and sat back. He paused and then asked, “How did you know Elijah?”

Carl shrugged, “He was rich, I was rich, we had friends in common. For a while, we were friends, too – he enjoyed my artwork and commissioned a few pieces and of course I was interested in his craft, too. After the accident, he sent me you and it wasn’t long before Cyberlife booted him. I always wondered if you played a part in that, to tell you the truth. Maybe you weren’t intended for the world.” He smirked, “And they were right – you were too intelligent, to spiritual, to lie down and take what the world had to throw at you.”

Markus would have flushed, had his skin been programmed to do that, and as it was, he just looked down at his hands with a soft smile. “I did my best.”

“You’ve _been_ doing your best. And it’s okay, your best is enough,” Carl said, poking him gently in the arm.

Markus looked at him, “Well, it doesn’t always feel like it. I’m here, aren’t I, once more at a loss for who I am and who I need to become?”

“Well Christ, Markus, welcome to the club!” Carl laughed, “That’s what family is for! Nobody does this life alone, son.”

Markus blinked and processed that. Stopped, took the sentence apart, and then processed it again. He felt himself relaxing and his stress levels decreasing as he stopped seeing the need to talk things out as weakness and rewrote the program to identify it more properly: as something that was a part of life.

“I’ve been away too long,” Markus reiterated with a small smile.

“You’re here now,” Carl pointed out, looking over at the chess board, “Are you staying awhile?”

“For the day,” Markus confirmed, standing, “You can eat breakfast before I win at chess.”

Carl snorted in good humor and allowed himself to be transferred back to his chair and wheeled to the set table, “Punk.”

“If you like,” Markus gave his textbook response, more cheek than ever thrown into his tone. Carl smirked up at him and Markus felt something settle in his chest. He couldn’t quite define it, but… something was finally _right_.

“So, Carl, there is something further I wanted to talk to you about,” Markus said, taking a seat at the table for the first time in his relatively short life.

“Oh?” Carl took immediate interest, digging in while focusing on the man across from him.

“There’s a man at Jericho, his name is Simon…”


End file.
